they had been fighting america and its allies across the globe. how did the decision come about in the midst of such intense opposition? what were the internal maneuverings that paved the way, the secret dealings that made it actually happen? who better to ask than the man himself, dr. henry kissinger. this is what the world looked like when you enter into the white house with richard nixon. the united states has had no relations with china. we have been inplaquablely opposed to this regime. we fought against them, american soldiers died in the korean war fighting the chinese, we fought them indirectly in vietnam. we recognized taiwan as the republic of china, and you come into office and within three years you open relations to china, agree to withdraw american troops from taiwan. what made you make that decision? >> the conviction was that a country of the magnitude of china could not be kept out of the international system indefinitely and would distort the international system. also, we thought if the soviet union, which had just occupied czec